Friday, March 9, 2012

Roughnecks Take Round One of Home and Home Against Rush

By Josh Bourhis

The Big "E" on the Rush Twitter jerseys stood for Evans Friday, but it came up short as the Rush fell to the Roughnecks 13-10.

J.Kushneryk Images

It took until the fourth quarter for the Rush to get things going, and it was too much of "too little, too late". Scott Evans had an incredible 6 goal 7 point night, but in the end it was Curtis "Rush Killer" Dickson who stole the show with a 7 point night of his own. He has totalled a hat trick in every one of his last 6 games against the Rush which led to his new nickname "Rush Killer".

The Rush kept it close in the first quarter but fell down 8-4 to start the last frame. 10 seconds into the fourth Kyle Rubisch potted a great goal on Poulin after a rare faceoff win for the Rush. Then it was off to the races for Scott Evans who scored two more after and assisted on a great goal by Aaron Wilson. Suddenly it was all tied at 8 with the momentum on the Rush's side. It stayed that way for four minutes until Calgary shot back with three unanswered to take the lead again. Cue Scott Evans as he pots his fifth and then his sixth to cap off the impressive Sock Trick. The game was in reach for the Rush until Curtis Dickson came up with a clutch goal to curb the comeback.

Zack Greer and Greg Harnett got into a tilt in the third and Greer who is not known to be a fighter stood in until the very end when Harnett landed a couple of big rights to end the fight. This bad blood will carry over into Saturdays game, when they face off again. This is a job well done by the league scheduling home and home Calgary Edmonton games as it allows for the heated rivalry to flourish. What adds to the storyline in these Battle of Alberta's are the battles of the brothers Shawn and Scott Evans and Travis and Jeff Cornwall. In the big scheme of things however the Rush have seemed like the little brother in Battle of Alberta losing 18 of the 22 games since their inception versus Calgary. This is also Calgary's 8th straight win over the Rush.

3 Stars:

3. Mike Poulin: 42 Saves

2. Scott Evans 6 Goals 7 Points

1. Curtis Dickson 4 Goals 7 Points

Final Words: The Rush twitter jerseys looked great, but there was a slight problem: For those watching the game on Sportsnet who didn't know about these twitter jerseys you were in the dark for the first quarter as the commentators did not explain the jerseys until 14:03 in the second. This is something that should be mentioned in the opening minutes of the broadcast. It was a big storyline and was completely missed.